History ComicBook / JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** Johnny's murder of Jimmy was quick and incredibly brutal. It was also pretty damn deserved.
** Johnny's idea of ending a relationship with no hard feelings is killing his date, [[MoralityPet Devi]], before things between them can go south. There is a [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown reason]] why the fandom lauds her as "[[BadassBookworm The One Who Got Away]]."

[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ref_jthm_32.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:270:Why are people so... unpleasant?]]

Johnny (Nny for short) is a serial killer with various psychological disorders who does bizarre and often nasty things to bizarre and often nasty people. He often has long, serious, intellectual monologues about the state of society, only to end them with non-sequiturs like "Tuesday is UFO day." When not doing that, Nny likes to draw a comic strip about a deranged, foul-mouthed stick figure named "Happy Noodle Boy." His only friends (if you can call them that) are Todd "Squee" Casil, the meek kid next door whom he unintentionally scares shitless, and Nailbunny, a dead rabbit nailed to the wall who is actually Nny's voice of ''reason''.

* PinocchioSyndrome: Mr. Eff, in contrast to his counterpart, Psycho Doughboy.

* SuperOCD: A morbid example, Johnny has a wall of his house coated with his victim's blood. Blood turns a different color when it dries, so he has to keep killing people and coating the wall with fresh blood.

* NiceShoes: Nny's boots. Knee-high, leather, cloven-toed and loads of buckles.

* StatusQuoIsGod: No matter what, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Johnny will be a homicidal maniac]]. He can have a LoveInterest, a MoralityPet, or a HeelRealization, and still be a homicidal maniac. He can [[spoiler:[[UpToEleven die, visit Hell, and come back with control of his own mind]]]] and still be a homicidal maniac. ([[PlayingWithTropes Albeit]] [[spoiler:less of one, but he still ''shot'' a "Kick Me" sign into some guy's back.]])

* AlmostKiss: Johnny and Devi on The Date... which is [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment odd]] because it's established early on how much the former dislikes contact with others, never mind bodily fluids ([[FridgeLogic like spit swapping]]).

** On the matter of Nny's sexuality, [[WordOfGod Jhonen]] had this to say: "He's a coward and I think it manifests itself in many ways. One of them being the fact that's he's disgusted with sexuality. I don't think he has a sex drive and if he does it finds its way out through other means, mainly a knife through the flesh." [[note]] The interview containing this quote, on a website that is {{NSFW}}, can be found here: http://suicidegirls.com/word/Jhonen+Vasquez+invades+SuicideGirls/[[/note]]

* AssholeVictim: Quite a few of Nny's victims were horrible people who were asking for their deaths, especially those that wind up in the TortureCellar. Edgar Vargas is an exception singled out due to being something of a OneSceneWonder who was specifically identified as being a decent person Nny took no satisfaction in killing, but far from the only one -- basically, Nny'll kill you for being an asshole, but he'll also kill you for being friends with an asshole, being somewhere in the same general vicinity as an asshole, for triggering his HairTriggerTemper, for catching him in a bad mood, for wearing bell bottoms...

** Nny himself could be this, for those who see him as a JerkassWoobie.

--->'''[[https://twitter.com/johnny_c Johnny]]''': "A man can only take so much, and being tied up and made to wear your gutted infant as a hat goes way past that. [[CrossesTheLineTwice Still, he looked ADORABLE]]."

* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: {{Deconstructed}}, like ContractualImmortality. At the beginning, Nny never gets caught. If he's reported, the cops will never remember who he is. It doesn't matter how public his sprees are, or how many victims, or even if he confesses directly to somebody's face at length. Once he returns from Hell and stops being a wastelock, this ends, and he's forced to go on the run.

* DyingAlone: Johnny attempts a murder-suicide to avert this trope. [[ContractualImmortality It doesn't work]] (well, the ''suicide'' doesn't; the murder part works just fine).

* HopeSpot: Occasional; [[OneSceneWonder Edgar Vargas]] (Nny kills him anyway), [[AlmostKiss The Date]] (until Nny tries to [[MomentKiller kill Devi]]), Nny's ShutUpHannibal moment to [[spoiler:The Doughboys (he finally dies by accident)]], Nny coming back from [[spoiler:Hell, in control ([[StatusQuoIsGod and still crazy]])]], and [[Creator/JhonenVasquez so on]].

* SelfInsertFic: Completely, '''completely''' averted. Jhonen [[WordOfGod has debunked claims of this]] many times, including several TakeThat strips targeted at people who believe this.

* ShowWithinAShow: Happy Noodle Boy is supposedly drawn by Johnny himself. As the series goes on, Noodleboy gradually starts making less and less sense, [[CreatorBreakdown reflecting the protagonist's own mental degeneration]]. Though Happy Noodle Boy never made much sense in the first place.

** Jimmy, sans the crush - he's closer to Stalker With A [[FanDumb Fanatic Obsession]] than anything.

* SympatheticMurderer: Though by rights he shouldn't be, especially starting out. ([[spoiler:Then we learn about [[ManipulativeBastard The Doughboys]], [[PoisonousCaptive The Moose]], their collective MoreThanMindControl]]... but he's still killed countless people, ForTheEvulz at least as often as a response to {{Asshole Victim}}s, and this doesn't exactly stop.) Vasquez himself has been rather {{Squick}}ed by [[FanDumb fan]] [[UnpopularPopularCharacter responses]].

* TranquilFury: Nny's major reaction to [[FanDumb Jimmy]]. Justified by how [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified]] he was, along with the somewhat return of his sanity, but it was as terrifying a sight as an awesome one.
* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Johnny and Squee. Neither are much liked in-universe, but fans adore them.

** In-universe, it's somewhat implied that Happy Noodle Boy is this. Apparentlty kids used to call Nny Noodle Boy as a child because he was so skinny.

* RantInducingSlight: Johnny has a major HairTriggerTemper; ''anything'', up to and including using the word 'wacky' in his presence, can set him off.

* KnifeNut: See that image up top? He actually owns a lot more knives than that.

** A recurring band is Nine Inch Heels, likely a stand-in for Music/NineInchNails (especially considering the comic began about a year after the band's breakout album, ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'', was released).

* ShoutOut: A lot of the borders contain hidden subliminal messages, and this one can be easy to miss. At the top of the page with the massacre in the taco place, it says "[[Film/{{Alien}} LV 426]]."

* ShutUpHannibal: Devi to Nny in the final book.

!!This comic provides examples of:

* EldritchAbomination: The Wall Monster. Though, as it turns out, despite its Eldritch appearance and somewhat enigmatic origin, [[SubvertedTrope is the antithesis]] of the typical Lovecraftian monster. While Eldritch critters are meant to represent the truly alien, inhuman and incomprehensible nature of the universe, the Wall Monster is just the opposite: [[TheHeartless a grotesque creation of pure, distilled, and entirely human hatefulness]].

* EldritchAbomination: The Wall Monster, nicknamed the "Moose". Though, as it turns out, despite its Eldritch appearance and somewhat enigmatic origin, [[SubvertedTrope is the antithesis]] of the typical Lovecraftian monster. While Eldritch critters are meant to represent the truly alien, inhuman and incomprehensible nature of the universe, the Wall Monster is just the opposite: [[TheHeartless a grotesque creation of pure, distilled, and entirely human hatefulness]].

* YourHeadASplode: Johnny briefly gains this power in Issue 6, when he [[spoiler:finds out that those who are in Heaven have powers that vary from person to person, though his guide tells him to refrain from the thought of doing so, lest he'd [[SchmuckBait explode someone's head]]. He almost immediately turns this power onto a guy and blows up his head a grand total of ''three times'' -- three, because his head regenerated every time. After the third time, the man gets irritated and does the same to Johnny, who retaliated and... well. The end result is a head-explody war among all of the residents. And a lot of free-floating brain matter]].

* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The Moose. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Which is definitely not a moose.]]]]
** Though, as it turns out, this creature, despite its Eldritch appearance and somewhat enigmatic origin, [[SubvertedTrope is the antithesis]] of the typical Lovecraftian monster. [[spoiler:While Eldritch critters are meant to represent the truly alien, inhuman and incomprehensible nature of the universe, the Wall Monster is just the opposite: [[TheHeartless a grotesque creation of pure, distilled, and entirely human hatefulness]].]]

* EvilVersusEvil: Johnny versus the [[ManipulativeBastard Doughboys.]]

* PapaWolf: Johnny [[spoiler:bludgeons the pedophile that threatened Squee]]. He even tried to teach Squee not to be afraid of such people. His method was, uh, flawed, but his intent was genuine.

** In-universe it's somewhat implied that Happy Noodle Boy is this. Apparentlty kids used to call Nny Noodle Boy as a child because he was so skinny. .

** In the bookstore, there is a stack of several books by Creator/HPLovecraft. [[spoiler:This foreshadows the appearance of an EldritchAbomination.]]
** [[spoiler:One of the EldritchAbomination's heads looks like [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]].]]

* TakeThatAudience: ''Jimmy'', or Mmy, from chapter seven was an attack on people who liked the comic before Johnny started contemplating what he was doing, and also towards people who found Johnny someone they could relate to as a person. Also ''Anne-Gwish'' was an attack against people that considered [=JTHM=] a goth comic because of its art style and its anti-conformist views.

* TooDumbToLive: Many an AssholeVictim got themselves killed because of their stupidity. Also the bulk of Hell's population.

* TortureCellar: Johnny's house has a TortureCellar several stories deep that seems to shift around and give itself extra rooms (with devices in them). Even he doesn't know how it came to be there.
* TranquilFury: Nny's major reaction to [[FanDumb "Mmy."]] Justified by how [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified]] he was, along with the [[spoiler:somewhat return of his sanity]], but it was as terrifying a sight as an awesome one.

* YourHeadASplode: Johnny [[spoiler:briefly gains this power when he finds out that those who are in Heaven have powers that vary from person to person, though his guide tells him to refrain from the thought of doing so, lest he'd [[SchmuckBait explode someone's head]]. He almost immediately turns this power onto a guy and blows up his head a grand total of ''three times'' -- three, because his head regenerated every time. After the third time, the man got irritated and does the same to Johnny, who retaliated and...well. The end result is a head-explody war among all of the residents. And a lot of free-floating brain matter.]]
-->'''Guide:''' No! No! Stop! STOP! You'll ruin everything!\\
'''[[spoiler:Johnny:]]''' My God! Are you kidding!? I've always dreamed of having super powers! This is just too much to resist! '''''[[NoIndoorVoice I have head-explody!]]'''''

* FreudianExcuse: Completely averted, even for the VillainProtagonist himself (Johnny makes vague mentions of people making fun of him when he was younger, but it's never used to justify what he does). Nailbunny's rant about Nny formally being a great artist also qualifies as an aversion, though it's similarly vague. Vasquez intentionally left Nny's origins unwritten to avoid this. Eventually, though we don't get the full details, the sequel spinoff ''ComicBook/IFeelSick'' implies [[spoiler:that he was corrupted by the same force that created the Doughboys]]. It's always clear that nothing really excuses Johnny's actions, however.
* FreudianTrio : Two within the main cast
** Johnny, Squee, and Devi as the Id, Ego, and Superego respectively
** Reverend Meat and the Doughboys, Johnny, and Nailbunny as the Id, Ego, and Superego respectively

* BadassLongcoat: Johnny gets one [[spoiler:when he goes to hell.]] To his consternation, he doesn't get to keep it.

[[spoiler:'''Pedophile:''']] Why'd you tell me your name? I didn't want to know your name!\\
''[[[spoiler:Pedophile]] gets his head caved in with a pipe]''\\

* BringMyBrownPants: A convenience store clerk who Johnny decides to rope into a murder-suicide attempt soils himself in fear when Johnny threatens him with a gun. [[KickTheDog Johnny mocks him for it]], [[spoiler:blows his brains out, fails to blow his own brains out, then leaves.]]
* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: {{Deconstructed}}, like ContractualImmortality. Nny will never get caught. If he's reported, the cops will never remember who he is. It doesn't matter how public his sprees are, or how many victims, or even if he confesses directly to somebody's face at length. Once he returns from Hell and stops being a wastelock, this ends, and he's forced to go on the run.

* CloudCuckoolander: Happy Noodle Boy is very odd in behavior, also a TalkativeLoon.
** Also, Devi's friend Tenna. Though to a ''much'' lesser extent than [[DaDaComic Happy Noodle Boy]].

* ContemplateOurNavels

** The early comics make no mention of the wall beast and suggest that Johnny repeatedly repaints a wall in his house with blood because he himself can't stand the thought of it drying.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Halfway into the series, There are strips exclusively starring ''Anne Gwish''. Although it is heavily implied to take place in the same universe as ''JTHM'', it's irrelevant to the main plot.

* AntiVillain: Johnny depending on the story is either a sympathetic villain with honest intentions or a straight up VillainProtagonist
* AnyoneCanDie: Naturally, given the title of the comic, it's inevitable that quite a few people would end up killed even when their deaths are not easy to anticipate. [[spoiler:Even the [[InvincibleVillain supposedly invincible]] [[LunaticLoophole homicidal maniac]]]].

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Johnny's murder of Jimmy was quick and incredibly brutal. It was also pretty damn deserved.

* MadArtist: Johnny...if his creative murders and Happy Noodle Boy comics actually count as art.

* {{Asexuality}}: Johnny finds sexual desire, like any biological imperative, to be revolting, but Reverend Meat seemed to imply that Johnny has had sex with some girl (possibly before he went crazy, since Johnny doesn't remember it). Whether Johnny became averse to sex after his psychosis set in, is not asexual but wishes to be, or Reverend Meat was just [[IncrediblyLamePun screwing with him]], is arguable.

In 2013, there was [[http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/03/03/eccc-vasquez-mahfood-bring-their-comics-to-life-with-titmouse/ talk of maybe a movie]].

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: The Doughboys.

[[caption-width-right:270:[[Film/TheShining Heeeeere's JOHNNY!]]]]

Six years before ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', artist Creator/JhonenVasquez unleashed his unique brand of BlackComedy and over-the-top nihilism upon an unsuspecting world in his very first comic series, ''Johny, The Homicidal Maniac''.